richen

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English rich

Proto-Germanic *-in-

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti

Proto-Germanic *-ōną

Proto-Germanic *-inōną

Proto-West Germanic *-inōn

Old English -nian

Middle English -enen / -nen

English -en

English richen

From rich + -en.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɪt͡ʃən/
• Rhymes: -ɪtʃən

Verb

richen (third-person singular simple present richens, present participle richening, simple past and past participle richened)

1. (transitive) To make or render rich or richer.

   Synonyms: enrich, enrichen; see also Thesaurus:enrich

2. (intransitive) To become rich or richer; become superior in quality, condition or effectiveness.
3. (intransitive, of a colour) To gain richness; become heightened or intensified in brilliancy.

Translations

render rich

• Czech: obohatit (cs) pf
• Finnish: rikastuttaa (fi)

become rich

• Czech: zbohatnout pf
• Estonian: rikastuma
• Finnish: rikastua (fi)
• Romanian: îmbogăți (ro)

Anagrams

• Rhenic, enrich, incher, nicher, rhenic

Galician

Verb

richen

1. inflection of richar:
   1. third-person plural present subjunctive
   2. third-person plural imperative

Luxembourgish

Etymology

From Old High German riohhan, from Proto-Germanic *reukaną. Cognate with German riechen, Dutch rieken, English reek, West Frisian rûke, Icelandic rjúka.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʀiɕən/

Verb

richen (third-person singular present richt, past participle geroch, auxiliary verb hunn)

1. (transitive or intransitive) to smell
2. (intransitive) to stink, to smell, to reek

Conjugation

Regular

infinitive	richen
participle	gericht or geroch
auxiliary	hunn
	present indicative	imperative
1st singular	richen	—
2nd singular	richs	rich
3rd singular	richt	—
1st plural	richen	—
2nd plural	richt	richt
3rd plural	richen	—

(n) or (nn) indicates the Eifeler Regel.

Middle English

Etymology 1

From riche (“rich”) +‎ -en (infinitival suffix).

Alternative forms

• ricchen, riche, rychen

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈriːt͡ʃən/, /ˈrit͡ʃən/

Verb

richen (third-person singular simple present richeth, present participle richynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle riched)

1. To make rich(er) or (more) valuable; to enrichen.
2. To acquire or possess wealth; to become or be rich.

Conjugation

Conjugation of richen (weak in -ede)

infinitive	(to) richen, riche
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	riche	riched(e)
2nd-person singular	richest	richedest
3rd-person singular	richeth	riched(e)
subjunctive singular	riche
imperative singular		—
plural1	richen, riche	richeden, riched(e)
imperative plural	richeth, riche	—
participles	richynge, richende	riched, yriched

¹ Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Descendants

• English: rich (obsolete)
• Middle Scots: rich, riche

References

• “rī̆chen, v.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Noun

richen

1. (Early Middle English) plural of riche (“realm”)

   Synonym: riches